Grackles Bully Your Birdfeeder

            The best way to tell if the unwanted Grackles are invading your backyard is to check on flocks of blackbirds and starlings already there making a nuisance of themselves.             The tallest with the longest tails among them will turn out to be Grackles, with their purple, shiny heads in sharp contrast with bronze, […] Read more »

Kittens, Cats and Catastrophes

            My grandmother was a gentle lady, but every time her cat had kittens, she picked out the one that looked like it might be the best mouser (how she knew that was beyond me), placed the rest in a burlap bag with a large rock and threw the bag into the pond, which was […] Read more »

Ice Cream Turns Roads into Refresher Course

            There was no digital stopwatch on display, but Sunday’s Tour de Creme bicycle ride was nonetheless an athletic event if only because even top-echelon performers tackling the longer courses indulged.             “A couple of guys passed me, then they stopped for ice cream,” said Bob Gendron, who pulled into the Munro Preserve as the […] Read more »

Sprinkler Malfunction Closes Sippican

A sprinkler malfunction resulted in water damage throughout the Sippican Elementary School on Tuesday night, prompting Old Rochester Regional Superintendent of Schools Mike Nelson and Sippican Principal Marla Sirois to cancel classes on Wednesday, May 24, according to a press release issued at 10:33 pm.             Initial reports of the broken sprinkler came in at […] Read more »

Eleanor’s Splendor Brought to Life

            Taking on the story of a person as wrapped in 20th century history on a global and local level as Eleanor Roosevelt takes an equally brave and insightful person. But to take it on as an actress inhabiting such a large personality is something else – it is epic.             Equal to the character […] Read more »

Partridge Plumage Matches Earth Below

The Ground Nesting Partridge in spring is hard to locate and identify because the color of its plumage is camouflaged with one of two earthly color phases.             Here in New England, the Partridge feathers match the dark gray shadows of the surrounding conifer forest. Further south, the Partridge plumage has a rusty cast to […] Read more »

A Rail Trail of Ideas

            The missus and I ventured down to the finally opened “Shining Tides Mile” section of the Mattapoisett Rail Trail. As an original skeptic, the curmudgeon in me wants to say something critical about it, such as the peace and quiet we once experienced walking along the dirt railroad bed communing with nature in peace […] Read more »

Tour de Crème Set for Sunday

            Ice cream and bike rides aren’t usually a common partnership, but Mattapoisett has found a way to pair the two.             The Tour de Creme, a once annual event that encourages bike riding and free ice cream, was shut down thanks to Covid-19. But now, the local land trust and bike committee will be […] Read more »

Rochester Elections

Editor’s note: The Wanderer invited candidates in contested races (more candidates than open seats) to write up to 350 words explaining their candidacy for elected offices. The 2023 Rochester Town Election will be held on Wednesday, May 24. Mattapoisett and Marion candidates appeared in the May 11 Wanderer. Today, we present Rochester candidates. Questions submitted […] Read more »

Students Seeking Solutions

            A group comprised of 31 Old Rochester Regional Marine Biology students from the junior and sophomore classes converged on Nantucket Monday morning to get a taste of the fieldwork being done by scientists working to find solutions for ecological problems threatening marine life.             What the students are already being taught is that the […] Read more »